Archinect - News

An open letter to LA's next mayor outlines 10 proposals to speed up the production of affordable housing

2022-09-30T13:20:00-04:00

The Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA|LA) has released an open letter to mayoral candidates Rick Caruso and Karen Bass suggesting 10 fixes to zoning requirements and the approval processes that would positively impact citywide efforts to tackle an ongoing housing crisis that has taken center stage ahead of the November election.

Echoing the tone of a recent LA Times op-ed, Koning Eizenberg principal and AIA|LA Government Outreach Committee member Brian Lane wrote on behalf of the organization, saying that, as the system is currently arranged, there are "a thousand ways to 'no.'" Their letter claims that city bureaucracy gets in the way of the design community's efforts and that production can be significantly increased via the proposed set of solutions.

"Dear Mayor," the text begins. "It takes about $600,000 and 5 years to build one affordable housing unit. That’s one person or family moved off the streets of over 69,000 experiencing homelessness in LA...

When the next disaster strikes, how resilient would future-proof cities in the U.S. be?

2015-08-14T14:45:00-04:00

'There is no one size fits all approach — every region is completely different...' Hurricane Sandy underlined the urgency by ruthlessly exposing New York's structural weaknesses...California also suffered as historic droughts settled in, and the 2014 wave of winter storms terrorized the North, emphasizing that extreme conditions were here to stay and could strike anywhere. This bought the U.S. into line with the global situation.

The regional Holcim Awards 2014 winners for North America

2014-09-22T19:28:00-04:00

Following the European announcement, the North American regional winners for the Holcim Awards 2014 were recognized at a recent ceremony at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto, Canada...The international jury led by Toshiko Mori (USA) highlighted 13 projects from across the U.S. and Canada, which altogether received US$330,000 in prize money.

Winning projects include those by students, emerging professionals, and leading practitioners — with some familiar names like BIG, the "Hy-Fi" by The Living's David Benjamin, Sheila Kennedy of KVA MATx, and NADAAA.

Below are a few of the winning projects.

HOLCIM AWARDS GOLD 2014 - North America: Poreform: Water absorptive surface and subterranean basin, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Main authors: Amy Mielke, Water Pore Partnership, New York, NY, USA; Caitlin Gucker-Kanter Taylor, Water Pore Partnership, Woodbridge, VA, USA
Further Author: Keller Easterling - Yale University, New Haven, USA

HOLCIM AWARDS SILVER 2014 - North America: Rebuilding by Design: Urban flood protection infrastructure, New York, NY, USA
Main Authors: Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Christoffersen, Kai-Uwe Bergmann, Daniel Kidd and Jeremy Siegel, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group; Laura Starr, Stephen Whitehouse, Andrea Parker and Melon Wedick, Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects & Planners; James Lima, James Lima Planning + Development; Steve...

The 2014 Buckminster Fuller Challenge semi-finalists

2014-08-27T21:14:00-04:00

The next edition of the prestigious Buckminster Fuller Challenge has already begun! Every year, the highly competitive international challenge searches for the most inventive -- and effective -- holistic solution strategies to the world's most pressing problems. The Challenge Review Committee selected 20 semi-finalist initiatives out of 450 proposals worldwide. Each project went through three rounds of rigorous evaluations.

See the rest of the projects and other details on Bustler.

A closer look into “The BIG U”, BIG’s winning proposal for Rebuild By Design

2014-06-03T19:22:00-04:00

From yesterday's announcement of the Rebuild By Design winners by the U.S. Department of HUD, we've got more details behind "The BIG U" by the BIG Team, who had one of the six winning propoals. The BIG-led consortium was awarded $335 million to implement their proposal for New York's Lower Manhattan, with the goal to increase the neighborhood's resiliency to future storm disasters. And with a name like "The BIG U", one can only be curious to find out more.

Read more about the proposal on Bustler.

U.S. Department of HUD announces the Rebuild By Design winners

2014-06-02T20:40:00-04:00

The winners of the Rebuild By Design competition were finally revealed! The global competition sought out the best local and resilient design solutions that would help rebuild the Eastern Seaboard cities affected by Hurricane Sandy...Out of the 10 invited multidisciplinary teams, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) selected the six winners, who were announced today by Secretary Shaun Donovan.

BIG U by the BIG Team for New York, New York

Living with the Bay: A Comprehensive Regional Resiliency Plan for Nassau County’s South Shore by the Interboro Team for Long Island, New York

New Meadowlands: Productive City + Regional Park by MIT CAU + ZUS + URBANISTEN for The Meadowlands, New Jersey

Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge: A Comprehensive Strategy for Hoboken by OMA for Hoboken, New Jersey

Hunts Point Lifelines by PennDesign/OLIN for Bronx, New York

LIVING BREAKWATERS by SCAPE / Landscape Architecture for Staten Island, New York

Winning design solutions will be implemented through CDBG-DR funding in addition to other public and private-sector funding sources.

Find out more on Bustler.

Winning designs of Cambodian Sustainable Housing competition now built

2014-04-18T13:45:00-04:00

It's a well-known fact that a safe and comfortable home is essential to one's well-being. From Building Trust International's 2013 "The Future of Sustainable Housing in Cambodia" competition, over 600 registered entrants proposed sustainable housing solutions for low-income families in Cambodia. The jury -- which also comprised of the families who moved into their new homes -- chose 3 joint-winning designs recently constructed in Phnom Penh.

The winners are:

Courtyard House by Jess Lumley & Alexander Koller (UK)

Open Embrace by Keith Greenwald and Lisa Ekle (USA)

Wet + Dry House by Mary Ann Jackson, Ralph Green, Muhammad Kamil & Nick Shearman of Visionary Design Development Pty Ltd. (Australia)

More details on Bustler.

Also check out our recent feature of Building Trust International's "Moved to Care" competition results.

The final proposals of the 10 shortlisted Rebuild by Design teams

2014-04-08T17:18:00-04:00

The ten Rebuild by Design finalist teams spent the past eight months doing intensive research and engaging with local communities to find local and resilient solutions to rebuild the Eastern Seaboard cities affected by Hurricane Sandy...Each team presented their final proposals to the public at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ late last week. Secretary Shaun Donovan of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will announce the winning projects later this spring.

BIG, WXY + West 8, OMA, Sasaki Associates, Interboro Partners, and notable universities are only a few of the multidisciplinary team leaders in this global group of finalists.

While we wait for the winning results, check out the final proposals below.

BIG U by the BIG team
Location: New York, New York

The Commercial Corridor Resiliency Project by HR&A Advisors, Inc. with Cooper, Robertson & Partners
Location: Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York; Far Rockaway, Queens, New York; Asbury Park, New Jersey

Living with the Bay: A Comprehensive Regional Resiliency Plan for Nassau County’s South Shore by the Interboro team
Location: Long Island, New York

New Meadowlands: Productive City + Regional Park by MIT CAU + ZUS + URBANISTEN
Location: The Meadowlands, New Jersey

Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge: A Comprehensive Strategy for Hoboken
by OMA
Location: Hoboken, New Jersey

Hunts Point Lifelines by PennDesign/OLIN
Location: Hunts Point, Bronx, NY

RESILIENCE + THE BEACH by Sasaki/Rutgers/Arup
Location: Jersey Shor...

Winners of the third edition IS ARCH Awards

2013-12-11T20:40:00-05:00

IS ARCH revealed the winning projects of the third edition IS ARCH Awards on Dec. 9. Out of 159 submissions from students and young architects, the competition resulted in three winners, 10 Honorable Mentions, and 30 Finalists.

Here are the top three winners:

1st Prize: ENCLOSING LANDSCAPE
By Ana Bruto da Costa, Joana Gonçalves, João Moreira

2nd Prize: ARCH FRAME
By Kang Ji Ho, Shim Hun Yong, Hwang Ki Soo

3rd Prize: HELSINKI CENTRAL LIBRARY
By Elena Capodarca, Luca Caroti

To see more projects, check out the article on Bustler.

Home truths: architects tackle the housing crisis

2012-07-12T19:41:00-04:00

As Britain's housing shortage deepens, we asked top architects for their solutions to the affordable living dilemma

UK's The Guardian taps Charles Holland from FAT architects, Glenn Howells of Glenn Howells Architects, Sarah Wigglesworth of Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, Lynsey Hanley, author of Estates: An Intimate History (Granta), Kevin McCloud, designer, presenter of TV's Grand Designs, and Dickon Robinson, Chairman of Living Architecture and Building Futures at RIBA, for some ideas.